On The Gordian Knot
by DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Summary: Seraphina Picquery begins her path at Ilvermorny.


**Hello again my dear readers! I have a great idea for this one! I'm doing this once again for The Houses comp, where Im a Lions team member playing the Charms spot. This is my round three standard, and we have been given several characters to choose from. I choose Seraphina Picquery, such a great character. Enjoy, and please review!**

**Word Count: 1260**

Seraphina stared around the impressive entrance way. It was a glorious room with white marble floors and towering pillars every few feet. They weren't waiting too long, and soon one of the professors led them through large oak doors and into another room, and this one was just as decadent. It was large and circular, and there were several rows of balconies. It was inside these high platforms that other, older students stood waiting and watching. There was a large table against one wall, it looked out on the entire student population. Sitting at the dining table where several teachers and they too were watching the newcomers with great interest.

Taking up the remaining space in the room were four large statues, and they were arranged in a circle around a small mound. Seraphina realized it was a Gordian Knot, like the fastener of her cloak.

Before the suspense could really set in the professor that had led them in took charge. She was a tall elegant woman with dark hair and eyes. She didn't look like someone that should be ignored, so Seraphina paid close attention when the stern woman cleared her throat.

After getting everyone's attention she began, saying, "Welcome new Ilvermorny students! We are excited to have you, but first we must sort you. When we call your name, you will step up to the Gordian Knot. One of the statues will react, and that will be your house. Your house will be your home here at Ilvermorny; you will attend classes together, live together, and form lasting bonds of friendship for years to come. The Houses are Pukwudgie, Wampus, Thunderbird, and Horned Serpent. If more than one chooses you, it will be your choice, and you will pick the house that suits you best." The professor gestured to each statue as she said it's name. "I know you all are extremely anxious for dinner, so let's get started." Consulting her list, she said, "Andrews, Lynn."

Seraphina watched as the said Lynn Andrews stepped forward and nervously stepped up to the Gordian Knot. After a few moments, the statue of the Thunderbird came to life, beating its wings with fervor. The girl quickly retreated, allowing the next student to come up.

The sorting passed fairly quickly. Students were sorted, and each returned to the wall in turn. A few students had a double reaction, and choose between the two, but more often than not only one statue reacted to the student on the knot. All too soon, it was Seraphina's turn.

Holding back her urge to run away and hide, Seraphina summoned all the courage she had and stepped up and onto the Gordian Knot. She watched the statues and waited anxiously. For about twenty seconds, the statues remained perfectly still. Seraphina grew anxious. Would she be deemed unsortable and be sent back to Georgia in disgrace? What if it was revealed a mistake, and that she would not be allowed to attend the greatest magical school in the world?

Finally, the statue of the Pukwudgie began to move. Seraphina sighed, a feeling of relief washed over her. She was officially a member of Pukwudgie House. It took her a moment to realize, but the Statue of the Wampus was reacted to her also . It was a shock to her when the Thunderbird began to beat its wings, and then the Horned Serpent uncoiled, showing that she too could be placed in that house!

The hall took in a collective gasp, and Seraphina couldn't blame them. It was rare to have two houses choose you, never mind three! She knew how rare it was for all four statues to react. It had been over a hundred years since the last time someone had been in the position to choose from all four houses.

As Seraphina stared at the choices before her, she felt more than a little apprehensive. The decision she made now would affect the rest of her life, or at the very least the next several years of it.

The object of apprehension? The four statues that stood in front of her. A Thunderbird, a Pukwudgie, a Horned Serpent, and a Wampus, all either making noise or moving. It was completely unexpected; every single one of the Houses wanted her.

She knew that normally, only one of the statues would have any reaction for a child in question. Occasionally, two or three statues would react, but all four? That was virtually unheard of. She couldn't even remember who the last person that had happened to had been.

And so, she faced a choice. Should she choose Pukwudgie, for healers? Maybe Horned Serpent, and pursue scholastic success? Thunderbird favored adventurers, and Seraphina had plenty of those back in Savannah. Wampus was the only one that Seraphina could decide that she did not want to be in. While she would not shy away from a fight when it came her way, she was not one to go out seeking trouble.

Her mother had been in Thunderbird, and had always spoken highly of her years there. Her father had never attended Ilvermorny, his parents having schooled him at home, but he had always praised knowledge and encouraged her to seek the truth — always.

And that helped her to decide. Seraphina turned to the professors who were watching with anticipation, and said in a confident and clear tone, "I choose Horned Serpent."

For a horrifying moment, there was silence, and Seraphina began to panic. Had she done something wrong? Had she chosen the wrong house? Then, proving that she had not, the entire room broke into a loud and rousing applause. Students whistled and Horned Serpent house in particular were shouting in approval for their newest house-mate. She saw a group of older students standing on the upper balconies who were more enthusiastic and guessed they were her fellow housemates – the ones that shouted and celebrated the most.

Stepping off the Gordian Knot, she allowed the next student to be called forward. The other students were sorted with a great deal less excitement, but while they were being sent to either of the four houses, she caught sight of some of the surrounding students eyeing her unsurely. Why were they doing that? Had she done something wrong after all? As the room was fairly quiet, she heard a pair of older students whispering above her.

"All four statues reacting? Do you know how rare that is?" one of them, a boy, said.

"'Course," a girl responded. "But she's just a kid, Bruce. She's done nothing wrong."

"Not yet," the boy, Bruce, said rather ominously. "But remember who the last person was who had all four statues react. Dorcus Twelvetrees! She nearly exposed us all, broke the Statute of Secrecy! I say we kick this girl out before she does the same, Isobel."

"Oh, nonsense," Isobel responded. "As long as we teach her right, nothing of the sort will happen."

Seraphina grew nervous as she listened to these words. She wondered about the omen of the four statues reacting to her, and about Dorcus Twelvetrees; would she, someday, break the Statute of Secrecy? Despite the defense of the girl, Seraphina had a feeling that people would always distrust her here. That would not stop her from doing her best. She would just have to prove them all wrong. And Sereaphina did, going on to become a trusted President of MACUSA, more than that, she prevented the Statute of Secrecy from being broken by none other than Gellert Grindlewald.


End file.
